Spring Again
by Jingle Puff
Summary: AU. After Giles leaves in S6, Buffy is given the opportunity to go back in time and fix something. Pure, unadulterated fluff. Sap, sap, sap. : I wrote it to cheer myself up. Rated for a swear word.


Disclaimer: I don't own anything. looks around Really, I don't. Even this particular plot has probably been thought up a million times before. looks around some more Does anyone have any cookies?

Summary/Author's Note: This is set in two different time periods, because it's first set in season six, and then it's the end of season three, and then it's in...well, you'll see. Anyway, season six always makes me really depressed, because Giles leaves and everyone's feeling crappy and they all hate each other. So, I wrote this to make myself feel better. Buffy is presented with a chance to fix things so that a lot of what went horribly wrong...didn't. It's sap, all of it. You should probably only read it if you need to be cheered up, too. :)

* * *

Buffy stared miserably at the ground. Giles was gone. And it was all her fault.

If only she'd been stronger, worked harder to be happy, then he might have stayed. Oh, he'd promised to call, but he'd promised _Dawn_ he would call. He hadn't said anything to Buffy, beyond spouting excuses.

She hadn't bothered to listen. All of his excuses and explanations boiled down to one reason: like all the other men, he wanted to get as far away from her as he could.

Not that Buffy could blame him. She was a wretched person, even more so since dying and being brought back. If there had been a way to escape herself, she would've done it.

"Good luck, Giles," she sighed.

She got up and turned to go back inside.

"You can bring him back."

Buffy stopped and whipped around. A tall woman in a purple gown was watching her from the foot of the steps.

"Excuse me? Who are you?"

"I'm a messenger—"

"From the Powers That Be," Buffy interrupted coldly. "That's what they all say. What do you want?"

The woman raised a brow. "I don't want anything. I was sent here to give you the opportunity to right the wrongs."

"What do you mean?"

In spite of herself, Buffy was curious. If there was a way to undo all the hurt…to bring Giles back to her….

"I mean that the Powers That Be are willing to send you back to make a new choice," the woman said.

Buffy snorted. "One choice? That's it? One choice and everything is suddenly all better?"

"Yes, actually."

"Bullshit."

The woman stepped back. "Very well. Since you're so happy with your life…."

"Wait!" Buffy bit her lip. "What's the catch?"

"There is no catch," the woman replied easily, walking up the steps to Buffy's side. "You say yes, I send you back, you make a new choice, and everything is as it should have been."

This sounded too good to be true, but the woman wasn't giving off demon-vibes. All of Buffy's Slayer alarms were silent.

And she so wanted it to be true.

"What choice? What am I choosing?"

"You'll find out when I send you back," the woman evaded.

Buffy shook her head. "At least tell me where you're sending me back to. I've gotta have something to go on so I'm prepared. If I'm prepared, then I can make the right choice."

The messenger considered that. "Very well. If you say yes, I will be sending you back to your high school prom."

Buffy frowned. "The prom? What's so important about the prom?"

The woman shrugged. "I'm just a messenger. Do you want to go or not?"

Buffy thought about it…for about a second. _Anything_ would be better than the way things were now.

"Yes."

* * *

Buffy blinked, trying to get her bearings. It was prom…she'd already gotten her award. Giles was standing in front of her, smiling.

"I had no idea children en masse could be…gracious," he remarked, and if she wasn't mistaken, he looked a little nervous. How had she not noticed before? And what was he nervous about?

"Well, every now and then, people surprise you," she replied dutifully.

His face fell as he gazed at something over her head. Buffy froze as a realization hit her like a bullet train. _He was going to ask me to dance._

"Every now and then," he said with just a hint of bitterness.

He reached for her award. Buffy grabbed his fingers and looked up at him. Giles stopped and gave her a confused look.

"It's Angel, isn't it?" she asked. She was surprised to feel a lump in her throat. "He's here."

Giles nodded and looked away. Buffy kept her hold on his hand, not allowing him to escape while she glanced behind her to confirm. Angel was there, just as she remembered…but it no longer affected her the way it had that night. There was no flood of bittersweet joy.

She turned back to Giles. Anticipation made her heart flutter.

She already knew what it would feel like to go to Angel, to let him wrap his cold arms around her. What would it be like to dance in Giles' warm embrace?

Buffy pulled the parasol out of his hand and laced her fingers with his. Before Giles could react, she set the award on the table behind them and pulled him toward the dance floor.

"Buffy, what—"

"Giles, will you dance with me?"

Whatever he had been about to say died on his lips. His eyes went round as he stared at her. Buffy smiled up at him.

"You don't have to stare at me like I've grown another head. It's just a question."

"Yes, but…. Angel is here. Don't you want to dance with him?"

Buffy pretended to think about it. "Nope."

Giles shot her an incredulous look. Clearly, he was going to take some convincing. Time to get serious.

"Giles, I loved Angel. I was ready to give him the rest of my life. He didn't want it," she stated plainly. "If he doesn't want to spend the rest of my life with me, then why should he get to have what should be one of the most beautiful nights of my life?"

She looked down at their hands for a moment, steadying herself. When she looked back up at him, his expression was still disbelieving, but it was much softer.

"I averted the big crisis—no evil dogs killing everybody. Now I get to enjoy the rest of my prom like a normal girl should. I want…to share it with somebody…the way other girls get to. I want to share it with someone the way Willow is sharing it with Oz.

"Angel decided he didn't want to share this with me. I'll probably be heartbroken about that for a while. But I'd also like to see what he was talking about when he told me we couldn't be together because he wanted me to have a normal life. He wanted me to have someone who could take me into the light…someone who could make love to me. I want to see what he was talking about.

"I could run for the nearest single guy and use him as a rebound—but that's not what I need and it's not what I want."

Buffy swallowed hard and tried not to let the tears fall. She needed to get this out—for both of their sakes.

"I walked in tonight and this really handsome guy smiled at me for just a second. And do you know, that one tiny smile made me feel…so happy. It lifted my heart in a way that Angel hasn't been able to do in the entire time I've known him. So that made me think that maybe I haven't really given that guy a chance. Maybe…he's one of the best men I've ever had the privilege of knowing, and I just didn't see what everybody else saw in him."

A tear escaped in spite of her best efforts. Giles looked like he was trying not to cry, too, but she couldn't be sure, what with her vision being all blurry from tears.

"What Jenny saw in him," Buffy choked out. "And I'm really, really sorry I never noticed it before, because if I had, I would never have done all the stupid things I did that hurt him. And who knows? Maybe it'll turn out that we aren't right for each other at all. But I want to try it. I want to find out."

She took another steadying breath and the tears dissipated. Now that she could see, it was obvious that Giles really was on the verge of tears himself. Buffy smiled again and stepped closer to him.

"So what I'm really asking is do you want to share tonight with me, Giles?" She let a little mischief creep into her tone. "We could stay up all night and drink so much punch that we puke."

He gave a watery chuckle. "I could do without the latter, thank you."

Buffy eyed him seriously. "Will you dance with me?" she repeated softly.

Giles swallowed so hard she heard it over the music. He nodded at long last and pulled her into his arms.

Buffy immediately melted into him and she couldn't help the smile that spread over her face when she heard his heart beating under her ear. He was so warm and solid. It felt good to be in his arms. She felt content, safe.

If this was what it felt like to be with Giles all the time, then she would never regret this decision.

* * *

Buffy woke with a start. It was pitch black; her heart was pounding. Had she dreamt it? Was it all just her subconscious wishing it could fix things that easily?

She sat up and fumbled for a light. An arm settled around her waist and she heard a masculine groan.

"What's wrong, love?" a sleepy voice inquired.

Buffy jumped up and ran for the light switch. Sure enough, the voice belonged to Giles. He propped himself up on one elbow, squinting at her with confusion. Buffy put her hands to her head, trying to remember what had happened.

"Buffy? What's wrong?" he repeated, much more awake now.

She shook her head and he got up, crossing to stand in front of her. They were in her bedroom, but…Giles looked older. This couldn't be the same night. He looked like he had before he went back to England, only not nearly so worn and sad. If it weren't for the worry etched into his features, she would say he looked happy. It was like years of sorrow had been erased overnight.

"Giles, I can't…I don't know what's happening," she admitted. "I feel like I woke up from a really bad dream, only the dream was real and this is all fake."

Giles carefully steered her back to the bed. Buffy sat gratefully and looked around. It was her bedroom, all right, but Giles had invaded it. His things and her things meshed together everywhere she looked. On the nightstand, there was a picture of the two of them hugging on a park bench in the middle of the day.

"What happened in this dream?" Giles wondered, his tone gentle, the way you'd speak to an animal that was about to bolt.

So Buffy told him everything, from the prom the way she originally remembered it to dying and being ripped from heaven to the prom as it happened when she'd been told she could change things. Giles listened patiently, even though it was nearly two in the morning. He didn't say anything for a long moment when she finished.

"Buffy, it must have been a dream," he said at last. "The way you remember the prom the second time? That's what really happened. You never danced with Angel."

Buffy frowned. "But it…it was real, Giles. I was there, it…."

She trailed off as memory began to seep in. It greeted the first set of memories like old friends and settled in beside them. Buffy felt a sense of awe as she realized that she'd really done it—she had changed everything with that single choice.

Angel had gone to L.A. after the Ascension—he hadn't been hit by Faith's arrow, so Buffy hadn't needed to go after her or allow him to feed off of her. She and Giles had shyly started dating. It worked beautifully. She'd never realized she could be so happy.

Her mom had still died, but Buffy had had Giles to lean on. The two of them were able to handle Dawn. When it came time to fight Glory, they had found another way—Giles had uncovered a spell to force her into her human form. He and Spike had disposed of Ben, and while they were taking care of that, Buffy had rushed to the top of the tower and freed Dawn before anyone started any blood flowing.

That meant she never died, she was never ripped out of heaven. Willow hadn't become addicted to magic. She and Tara were happy together. Dawn was a happy teenager, for all of her sulking.

Buffy and Giles fell in love a little more every day. He had moved in after her mom died, but they had talked about living together before that. Now, Giles had been trying not to say anything for months, but Buffy suspected that he wanted to discuss marriage.

None of the fights had ever happened. The Scooby gang had never split apart. They were a fully functional, supportive family. They even had weekly pizza-and-movie nights. Parenting Dawn was like a group endeavor.

Buffy turned back to Giles, who was still watching her worriedly. She only now noticed that he was unconsciously rubbing her back in an attempt to soothe her.

"It was real, Giles," she reiterated, calmly now. "But this is real too. I fixed it." She smiled. "I like it so much better this way."

Giles wasn't convinced. "Are you sure? We could research…or take you to the hospital."

Buffy giggled. "It's okay, Giles, really."

She could see that he wasn't going to be swayed; he refused to believe in the horror version of events that she had told him.

"You must be right. It was a really vivid nightmare, though."

Giles relaxed just a fraction. "Do you need to talk some more? I could get you some water. Or if you just need company this time…."

Buffy remembered countless nights of soothing one another, depending on who had nightmares that night. It made her feel warm and safe.

Giles always made her feel warm and safe and loved.

"No, that's okay. Just hold me?" she entreated him.

Giles was more than happy to oblige. He turned out the light and returned to bed. Buffy gladly snuggled against his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat.

Giles had never left, and he was never going to. Everything was perfect.

"Giles?"

"Hmm?"

Buffy blinked back happy tears. "I love you."

He held her tighter. "I love you, too."

* * *


End file.
